


Hotel ThEd

by IT_GIRL_RH



Category: Radiohead (Band)
Genre: Drug Use, First Time, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-18
Updated: 2010-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-16 13:34:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10572363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IT_GIRL_RH/pseuds/IT_GIRL_RH
Summary: Sometimes while on the road, mistakes happen. Sometimes, that is a good thing.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Updated: 31 May 2010
> 
> It will be some time before I can finish this. If you just can't wait, check the Spoliers for my notes on the ending. :)

  


 

  
Summary: Sometimes while on the road, mistakes happen. Sometimes, that is a good thing.  
Rating: Adult  
Categories: radiohead slash  
Characters: Ed, Other, Thom  
Genres: First Time, Fluff, Friendship  
Pairings: Thed  
Warnings: Drug Use  
Completed: No   
Updated: 31 May 2010  
**Disclaimer:** This is fiction. All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement or ill-will is intended.

Story Notes:

It will be some time before I can finish this. If you just can't wait, check the Spoliers for my notes on the ending. :)

 

Chapter 1

After a grueling way-too-damn-long bus ride through the most unchanging and dull landscapes North America has to offer, the bus finally pulls into  the parking lot of a hotel which seems to have sprung fully formed from the bland suburban wasteland not but moments before they arrived. It is almost cartoon-like in it's shiny newness and non sequitur lushness against the backdrop of 70's style strip malls and repetitive cracker box houses. Ed doesn't care. He just wants to get off the cramped bus and stretch his legs. He can never sleep on the bus, unlike Thom and Colin, both of whom are conveniently travel-sized. Ed is the economy-sized bottle and he wasn't made to fit on the shelf, so to speak.

As soon as he notices the bus start to slow to a stop, he's already gathered up his bag and is stepping over and around the others' limp snoring forms. He winds and contorts his way up to the door at the front of the bus and waits for his impending freedom as eager as a puppy. The bus stops. Ed pushes at the door repeatedly with frustrated determination until it finally opens. Under his breath he lets out a very satisfied "Yesss!" in triumph. He bounds down the steps, well, as near well as he can bound while half-way hunched over to clear the midget-sized doorway. He drops his bag to the ground and stretches out his long body with rather more enthusiasm than anyone of average or below average height  could ever fully understand.

He looks about the parking lot  for someone from management and flashes his radiant smile in the direction of the pretty young lady waiting on the curb clutching a clipboard. He's seen her before. Ah! Then he has it and his smile goes wider and even more sparkly. She's his new favorite person in the whole world. She's the keeper of the hotel room keys and per diem. She's new. Fiona or Felicity or something. Definitely something with a Feh sound. He can't remember so he settles on "Love." He's pretty and he's a rock star. He can get away with calling people "Love" if he wants.

"Do you have something for me, Love?" The words slink out of his mouth in a raspy purr as smooth as velvet. Ed is impressed. That sounded awesome.

The girl nearly drops her clipboard and fumbles her stack of key cards onto the ground as her cheeks flush and her eyes go wide with panic. She mumbles something towards the cement as she scrambles to gather up her scattered items. Ed doesn't make out what she said, but he's pleased the sexiness of his voice right then wasn't lost on her. Benefit of the poor air circulation on the long bus rides, it's given them all sexy raspy voices and also keeps Thom from complaining non-stop every bus ride because he has to save his voice for the show.

"Allow me." Ed stretches down and gathers up her lost talismans for her while she smooths her hair and tries to compose herself. He hands them back to her with a smile and a wink. "Now. Which one of these is mine?"

She keeps her head down and her eyes locked on the chart and scribbles on her clipboard, running down the list with her finger and mumbling to herself. She frowns and shuffles through the key cards which had been so neatly organised a few moments before. She squints up at Ed. "King-sized bed?"

Ed looks around sarcastically then back at her. Honestly, who else would be requesting the king-sized bed? "Yes. Please."

"Ok. Yes. Then." She shuffles through the cards again and slides all but one back under the clip on the side of the clipboard. She takes a tissue from her pocket and wipes off the grease-penned "KS" before handing the card to Ed. She keeps her eyes on the clipboard but her eyelashes flutter when Ed's finger casually brushes over her skin as he accepts the card. She swallows loudly. "King-sized bed." She says matter-of-factly, stealing a furtive glance upward before retreating back to staring at the scribbles on her clipboard.

She's shy. Ed thinks it's cute. "Thank you, Fiona. You're my new favorite person in the whole wide world."

"Phoebe." She says while unclipping a stack of envelopes from the other side of her clipboard.

"Phoebe. Yes. Sorry. Phoebe."

Phoebe hands Ed the clipboard and a pen and points to where he should sign. He signs with flourish (he's been practicing his autograph, but he's still not entirely pleased with it.) and hands it back to her in trade for the per Diem envelope with his name boldly emblazoned across the seal. He smiles. "Thanks, Fiona." Ed hates this new system they've started using. He liked the old one better when they got their cash in one chunk instead of dribs and drabs along the way. It makes him feel like a trained pony and they'll deny him his sustenance if he doesn't perform his tricks to the label's specifications.

"Phoebe."

"What?" Ed had been reminiscing about the good old days of last week's per Diem system and missed what she said.

"Phoebe. My name is Phoebe."

"Oh." What had Ed called her? "Right. What did I say?"

"Fiona."

"Fiona? Oh, I'm sorry. Why on earth do I keep wanting to call you Fiona when Phoebe is such a pretty name and it suits you so very well?" He replies, turning up the charm to eleven.

She giggles, blushes and looks at her clipboard. "I don't know. It's okay."

"No. No." Ed says while lightly touching her shoulder and fixing her with a benevolent smile. "I'll try better to remember next time. After all, you're my new favorite person in the whole world, Phoebe."

She looks up at him with a smile and flutters her eyelashes. Ed smiles back.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, O'Brien! Flirt on your own time! I want my room key!" Jonny moans in exasperation behind him.

Phoebe nearly breaks out in hives from blushing so quickly. Her eyes zoom back to her clipboard and she nearly drops her pen.

Ed turns around and sees all of the humanity of a Radiohead road show spilling out from buses and trucks into the parking lot in a haphazard stretching, yawning, scratching throng. Some pull bags and cases from the compartments under buses. Some chatter about getting dinner or hitting a pub. Several are lined up behind Ed, already carrying bags and waiting for him to finish flirting with the key master so they can get their room keys and dinner money.  
 

 


	2. Chapter 2

  
Chapter 2

Ed heads straight to the lobby knowing they’ll send up his bag later when they get things all sorted out. He needs to stretch his legs a bit more after being knotted up like a pretzel for so many hours on that bus. He’s knackered and dying to collapse on a comfy surface that is actually long enough for him. Not all hotels on their tour have king-sized beds available. So Ed is always extra excited when he can get one. Plus, it means he gets his own room even if it’s not his turn for a room to himself. Rooms with king-sized beds usually only have one bed in them. So the other four share the regular rooms that usually come standard with two full-sized beds. It’s perhaps the only perk of being tall on a rock and roll tour. It almost makes up for having to sleep curled up like a hedgehog every other night. Ed can’t wait to fall in to bed.

The doors to the lobby open up with a futuristic  _swoosh_  as he approaches and he’s immediately met with an unexpected blare of angry voices nearly drowning out the soothing piped in lift music. He glances over to the front desk where a group of elderly tourists are arguing with a terrified looking clump of hotel staff cowering behind the counter. He’s nearly knocked over by a roundish red-faced man in a cheap suit with a manager tag pinned at an angle across his lapel. 

Ed heads right to the lift. He looks at his per Diem envelope and checks the room number pencilled on one corner. It says “Room 2046” in a pretty feminine scrawl. Under that it reads “Phoebe Room 2024 x92024”. Ed smiles. It’s always nice that she lets them know how to get a hold of her. The gal in charge of accommodations before never did that. He joins the lady already waiting for the lift and checks the chart on the wall in front of them for his floor. He’s on the sixth floor. It must be some kind of complicated formula that distributes the rooms per floor because it has no correlation to his room number. He hates that. He prefers it when room 601 means you’re the first room off the lift on the sixth floor. That’s so much simpler to manage after a gig. 

A bell sounds and the lift doors slide open. The inside of the lift is all mirrors. He grins at his reflection. He looks a bit bedraggled but in an international man of mystery kind of way. Cool. He motions for the lady next to him to enter first and smiles at her. She is pretty. Very pretty. She smiles back, steps onto the elevator and motions for him to join her as she looks him up and down with a sly grin. Ed decides she’s too pretty. They’ve all been warned that hot babes in hotels are often prostitutes on the make so everyone on the tour, apart from Colin who claims prostituion is a misunderstood art and deserves respect like any other profession, is terrified to speak to any women in hotels now. Ed looks around for someone else to join them on the lift but there are no takers. He steps inside with a bit of apprehension. He tries to make himself look busy adjusting his bag and fiddling with his envelope and keycard. The doors slide shut.  
 

  



End file.
